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Voters in Huntsville on Tuesday elected the city’s first Black female city councilperson.
Former school board member Michelle Watkins unseated two-term incumbent Devyn Keith in a runoff election for the District 1 seat. Watkins took in 54 percent of the vote, winning 2,278 to 1,910.
“I address you as the first Black woman of the Huntsville City Council,” Watkins said during a victory speech to supporters. “If you did not vote for Michelle Watkins, it is time for us to come together and unite. We must be united and not divided. I will serve all the citizens of this district.”
Watkins’ victory is considered an upset only because Keith was a two-term incumbent who served eight years. However, Keith made himself extremely vulnerable when he was arrested in 2023 on a series of shoplifting charges. He later pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges and the very public fallout from the incident continued to hang over his head.
Watkins, in the meantime, was the perfect candidate at the right time to take advantage of Keith’s vulnerability. A popular member of the Huntsville City School Board, serving District 1, Watkins was a popular figure in the community for her outspoken manner, particularly when it came to challenging Huntsville leadership.
Her victory in the runoff could not be considered a surprise. She narrowly missed winning the seat without a runoff, falling just 20 votes shy in the August election.
